Kolkata: A GPS-collared tigress released in north Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve, which later moved into villages near Assam’s Raimona National Park, has gone untraceable after its radio collar stopped transmitting signals in the early hours of Thursday, prompting a search operation involving the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the forest depts of Bengal and Assam. Drones are also being deployed to help track the animal as concern grows over its whereabouts in a transboundary landscape spanning the two states.Forest officials said the tigress’s location had been unknown since around 1am to 1.30am. It was last tracked near Hatigarh village, close to Assam’s Raimona National Park, after travelling 12-15km from Rajendrapur village. Its last known location was near National Highway 31, around 5-6 km from Raimona National Park.Officials, however, are not ruling out a temporary signal failure. Dense forest canopy, rocky terrain or signal interference could have prevented transmission.“It is too early to draw any conclusion. The tigress may have made a kill and dragged it deep into the vegetation or into a cave, where the collar cannot transmit signals. Once it moves into a coverage area, trackers should receive its location, including delayed signals,” a senior scientist said.A forester said the tigress had preyed on two domestic piglets two nights earlier.Forest teams are monitoring the situation, with preventing human-wildlife conflict remaining a priority as the animal’s last known location was close to human settlements and a highway.The loss of contact has also raised concerns against the backdrop of wildlife crime in the region. In Sept 2026, a female elephant was severely injured after its trunk became caught in a snare inside Raimona National Park. Earlier this year, an elephant was reportedly shot dead in Chirang’s Karaibari forest area and its tusks removed.In Jan 2025, two men were arrested near Bangtijhora on alleged deer-poaching charges. Three people were detained in 2024 over the alleged killing and cooking of a leopard inside Raimona, while a jumbo carcass with missing tusks was found in the park’s Sanfang Range in 2023.
